Page 47 of The Sinner's Touch

“Your daddy is a good man, Nugget. I can’t wait for you to meet him. He’s going to love you as much as I do.”

Her breath caught when the words left her mouth.

She loved him. Already. How was that possible? She’d only found out about the baby less than a month ago, but in that time, something changed. She loved this tiny little nugget growing inside her.

The realization staggered Angel. She sat on the toilet seat, overcome not with panic so much as joy. She loved her baby. It was her and Kade’s own little piece of heaven. That was what her mom had always called kids. A gift. Your own little piece of heaven on Earth. She hadn’t even held the baby or seen a sonogram yet, but he was real. She was always aware of him, conscious of everything she did, everything she ate.

She was already taking care of her nugget and keeping him safe.

Because she loved him.

Her hand, the engagement ring glinting against the harsh, yellow bathroom light, rested on her belly. Whether this marriage lasted or not, one truth remained.

The nugget.

As long as she had him, there would always be a reason to get up, to do better, to be better. For the nugget.

She didn’t matter. Kade didn’t matter. Only the nugget mattered. Keeping him happy and safe and surrounded by love was what mattered.

The nugget’s daddy was freaked out in a bad way, same as she had been when she’d seen those double lines on that stick. Sometimes she woke up in a cold sweat, afraid of the future, her hand clutching her stomach. They were both afraid. Of so many things.

But it would work out. It had to. For the nugget.

If only it had worked out. Angel sighed and snuggled deeper into the blanket, missing Kade’s warmth. She despised herself for being weak, for needing him. For loving him.

Things would be so much simpler if she didn’t love Kade. It was a truth she’d admitted as he’d held her during her tear-fest. Which only caused her to cry even harder. Despite all she’d lost, she loved him.

A crash downstairs made her shoot up in the bed. What was that? Her eyes darted around the dark room. Kade was downstairs. He’d probably dropped something or stumbled against a table, knocking a lamp off. It wasn’t like her friendly neighborhood serial killer could get into the apartment. Not with all the security measures they had in place.

Could he?

No, she assured herself. There was no way.

But he’d gotten intoherapartment. He’d evaded police for months. What if itwashim? What if he’d hurt Kade and was on his way up here right now? Shit. She needed to go see what was going on. Sitting here freaking out wasn’t helping, but then again, the person who went to check out the strange noises in horror movies always died first.

This wasn’t a movie, however. She wasn’t some made-up character meant to do the stupid thing just to be murdered off for the sake of a scare. Getting up, she found her shoes then cracked open the door, listening. Silence. Surely, if Kade were down there, she’d hear him moving around.

Maybe it was the serial killer and he’d knocked Kade out or something. Kade was a big guy; he could take care of himself. She’d seen him and Peter in a bar fight one night against a few other guys. Two against five. Kade was a brawler. He wasn’t up against an ordinary person, though. He was up against a serial killer with serious skills. What if he’d caught Kade unawares?

Why was she sitting here debating going to check on him instead of getting the hell out? It would be easy to sneak down the stairs and run for the door, only a few feet away. She opened the door and looked down the hallway. Clear. She inched her way out of the bedroom, hugging the wall as she made her way to the top of the stairs. The main room below looked empty.

Where had the crash come from? Her eyes scanned the room, but she didn’t see any furniture knocked over, no lamps on the floor, and no Kade.

Where the hell was he?

She walked down the stairs, careful to be as quiet as she could. The front door was right there. She could go out right now and make a run for the elevator. But what if the serial killer had gotten in somehow and hurt Kade? She’d told him yesterday shewished he’d died instead of Peter. It wasn’t true. She didn’t want him to die. She couldn’t just leave him here.

Damn it.

She let out a sigh and moved into the living room, looking around. The only thing out of place was a large piece of lasagna on the couch, the plate in the floor. Nikoli would freak. That was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to eat on the couch. Maybe Kade had been sitting down to eat and got surprised?

There was a hallway behind the stairs with more rooms. She headed in that direction and saw three more doors. One of them was open, the light on. No murmur of voices reached her. Probably empty. Still, she kept as quiet as she could as she snuck down the dimly lit corridor. She peeked into the room and found it empty. It looked like an office, bookshelves, a desk with three computer monitors, several chairs.

Where was Kade?

She turned around and ran right into a wall of muscle. She stumbled back, her scream loud and clear. She ran straight into the office looking for a weapon. She spied the letter opener on the desk and snatched it up, ready to defend herself.

“Easy.” The deep voice matched the smiling man taking up the doorway, blocking her exit. He looked Eastern European, maybe Greek or Italian. His brown eyes were amused. “I’m Jasper Watkins with Kincaid Security. Agent Kincaid sent me up while he gets the rest of my team registered with security.”

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